Seoul Day 5 – Enjoying the traditional houses at Bukchon Hanok Village

During my last day in Seoul, I decided to explore the area most close to where I was staying. I intentionally slid this to the back of my itinerary as it was just there.

It was really cold today as the wind coming from the mountains was quite strong. The surroundings felt gloomy as well since the sun didn’t show up from behind the clouds. Though that was the case, I still went on to walk around the narrow streets that wind about Bukchon Hanok Village.

narrow streets at Bukchon Hanok Village

Seoul Day 4 - Learning political history in Sarangchae at Cheongwadae President Museum

Continuing the morning tour, we headed on to Sarangchae at Cheongwadae. Here, you can learn so much about Korea’s modern history. With various exhibitions that showcase Korea’s past presidents and their corresponding political policies, this is the place to visit for all you folks who love to keep up with governments.

facade of Sarangchae
courtesy of http://www.english.president.go.kr 

Seoul Day 4 - Spotting high ranking officials at Cheongwadae (Blue House)

After my morning stroll within the Gyeongbokgung Palace grounds, I headed on straight to Cheongwadae. Commonly referred to as the Blue House, this structure has over 150,000 traditional Korean blue roof tiles. Known for their regal color and intense durability, these tiles will last for over 100 years without fading or cracking. Simply amazing!

view of Cheongwadae at the foot of Mt. Bugaksan

Seoul Day 4 - Culture seeking at Gyeongbokgung Palace (Part 2)

The next area we went to was the Sajeongjeon. It was here where the king held early morning meetings to manage routine state affairs. Early is not an understatement! These meetings started at 3:00am in the morning! Imagine getting up at that hour to discuss political matters!

Next stop was the king’s living quarters, the Gangnyeongjeon. The structure was divided into 9 sections with the center being the king’s room. It is here where the king read books, rested, and attended to state affairs in private. 

at the front of Gangnyeongjeon

Seoul Day 4 - Culture seeking at Gyeongbokgung Palace (Part 1)

It was a fine morning during my fourth day at Seoul. Finally, the sun decided to shine bright today after hiding in the clouds for the past days! I really appreciated this blessing of good weather since this was the day designated for my Gyeongbokgung Palace tour.

a nice view of the main throne hall amidst the mountainous backdrop

Seoul Day 3 - Lunch at Flora by Chef Cho Woo Hyun

Between touring Changdeokgung Palace and Insadong, I came to Flora by Chef Cho Woo Hyun for lunch. Conveniently situated at the hilly neighbourhood of Samcheongdong, it was a great place to have a quiet and relaxed lunch.

Seoul Day 3 - Experiencing the Seoul Lantern Festival 2012 at Cheonggyecheon

Earlier that day, I heard from my walking tour guide about the Seoul Lantern Festival. She said that it would be a nice experience for me to drop by the Cheonggyecheon area for this event.

I welcomed this suggestion and went there after having a hearty dinner. Since this was near Insadong, I simply walked over to the place. While on my way, I imagined the festival installations to be purely made of traditional themed lanterns. However, once I got there, I was pleasantly surprised. There were so many larger than life lantern installations – most of them depicting cultural or historical themes of Korea.  

Seoul Lantern Festival 2012

Seoul Day 3 - Finding hidden treasures at Insadong

Continuing the day with another cultural site, I went to visit Insadong in the afternoon. As I am staying at the Samcheongdong area, I reached my destination in only 15 minutes – simply by walking. No sweat to it!

map of Insadong
courtesy of http://english.visitkorea.or.kr

Seoul Day 3 – Discovering history at Changdeokgung Palace

The morning of my third day here at Seoul was reserved for a tour of the Changdeokgung Palace. As I wanted to get to know more about Korea’s history and culture, I signed-up for a walking tour of the place.  The registration was done online through this site: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr prior to my visit. Just fill out a form and you will get a confirmation e-mail afterwards. The best thing about this service is that it is absolutely free!

a close encounter with the throne hall

Seoul Day 2 – Viewing Seoul from N Seoul Tower

After completing my traditional hanok village experience, I was set on going to my next destination, the N Seoul Tower. Awhile back, I was actually thinking whether or not to proceed to the tower as it was raining that day. Fortunately, the skies cleared up late that afternoon which made for an easy decision to go on with the initial plan.

N Seoul Tower

Seoul Day 2 – Exploring Namsangol Hanok Village

My second day at Seoul started out great! The sun was shining bright in the sky – a perfect day for walking and going around the city. After finishing my breakfast, I immediately set out to maximize the hours of this day.

I planned to explore the Namsan area on this day – starting from the cultural Namsangol Hanok Village.

Namsangol Hanok Village - Plaza

Seoul Day 1 – Myeongdong Dinner and Shopping

After our lunch session, my friends and I split up. They were to meet another person in Seoul at the place they were staying at. I then went off to explore more of what the city has to offer.

As I don’t have a clear cut agenda for this day, I just went on to the nearest place from Shinsegae Department Store – the Myeongdong Shopping District. Apparently, this is one of the most famous places for tourists to shop. There were lots of underground markets, malls, and street vendors all over. No wonder this place feels so vibrant and full of life!

I explored the nearby underground markets first. As these seem to be just simple underpasses, I expected to see only a few stores. However, when I actually went into one, the place is huge! So many little shops were spread out on the many alleyways that comprise the underground market. There were shops for clothes, shoes, bags, small trinkets, vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, food, and so many more! It took me quite a while to visit all these underground markets located in the area. I got to go around 3 of them – Myeongdong, Hoehyeon, and Sogong. All were pretty much the same in layout except that each store specializes in something different.

courtesy of panoramio.com (Peter Mok)

Seoul Day 1 – Lunch at Saboten, Shinsegae Department Store, Seoul

Namdaemun Market is so huge that we didn’t notice how fast time flew by. When I looked at my watch, it’s already lunchtime. Time to find a place to eat!

One of my friends suggested walking towards Shinsegae Department Store to find a restaurant. Trying the elevator to go up to the 10^th floor seemed hopeless since it’s always filled with people. So, we ended up using the escalators instead. I didn’t mind at all because there was so much to see in the different floors while going up. However, no buying for us as we were all on a budget.

courtesy of http://english.shinsegae.com

Seoul Day 1 – Browsing at Namdaemun Market

As I was really tired the night before from the flight to Seoul, I started my first day a little bit later than usual. I set an alarm for 8:00 am but kept on hitting the snooze button that I actually woke up at 9:00 am. So much for getting up early!

I felt the cold weather instantly creep in when I got out into the streets. To add to that, wind was constantly blowing from the nearby mountains.  Good thing I prepared myself by wearing two layers of jackets. All set to go exploring in the city of Seoul.

Seoul Citypass Plus

Before anything else, let me tell you about this nifty transportation card that they have in Seoul called the Seoul Citypass Plus. Not only does it pay for your transportation fees, it can also double as a prepaid card for convenience stores, vending machines, and some tourist attractions.

Seoul, South Korea - 5 Days / 4 Nights Itinerary

I went to visit Seoul in South Korea last November 3-8, 2012.

The whole city was enveloped in vivid colors of red, orange, and yellow. I can say that autumn here is a sight to behold. With so many trees scattered around the city, you are literally showered with falling leaves on almost every street corner.

I better stop talking about the season now. Let’s head on to my travel plan.